Denture brush



E. F. ARNOLD July 2, 1940..

DENTURE BRUSH Filed July 5, 1938 E. FAT-n 07 a.

Patented Jul 2, 1940 PATENT OFFICE 'DENTURE BRUSH Ernest FranklinArnold, Toronto, Ontario, Oanada Application July 5, 1938, Serial No.217,474

2 Claims.

This invention relates to denture brushes such as are used for cleaningartificial dentures or plates and the object of the invention is todevise a brush which will not only brush all smooth surfaces, includingthe teeth, but also 'all concave surfaces that an ordinary brush wouldnot reach and the inside of all sizes of clamps. A further object is todevise a brush which may be readily grasped and held close to thebristle part of the brush so that it may be more accurately manipulatedwith less likelihood of dislodging the denture plate from the grasp thanif the brush were held by a handle, and which is of such a size andshape that the palatal surface of the plate may be thoroughly cleaned bya rotating motion.

Other objects of this invention will hereinafter appear and theinvention is more particularly described and is illustrated in theannexed drawing in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view;

Fig. 2 a rear end view;

Fig. 3 a front end view; and

Fig. 4 a bottom plan view.

In the drawing corresponding numbers in the different figures refer tocorresponding parts.

The brush comprises a brush-block I having concave sides and a pluralityof depressions l in said sides to enable the user to firmly grasp thebrush.

The length of the brush is such that it is substantially equal to thediameter of an average full denture plate, about 50 mm. It iscomparatively narrow for convenience in handling and for a bettercleansing of curved surfaces, the width being preferably about 16 mm.The depth of the brush-block l is suflicient to enable it to be firmlygrasped by the hand and is preferably about 22 mm.

Extending from the under surface of the brushblock at substantiallyright angles thereto are a plurality of closely spaced bristles 2 ofsuiiicient length for effective cleaning, say, about 10 mm., from theunder surface of the block to the end of the bristles.

One end of the block I is provided with a bristlereceiving surface whichextends upwardly and forwardly from the under surface of the block at anangle of 45 or a little less and mounted in the bristle receivingsurface is a tuft 3 of bristles which extends in a direction forwardlyand downwardly from the front end of the block and at substantiallyright angles to the aforesaid bristle receiving surface. The bristlesincrease gradually in length from the upper and lower sides of the tuftto the middle thereof so that the end of the tuft is rounded when viewedin side elevation. The longest bristles in this tuft are approximately18 mm. in length and the tuft extends below the plane of the ends of thebristles 2.

Although the ends of the bristles in the tuft 3 will extend slightlybeyond the end of the brush-: block the cleaning surface of thebristles, formed by the bristle ends will be of a length substantiallynot exceeding the diameter of an average sized full denture.

Mounted on the upper surface of the block I is what may be called aclasp cleaning brush which consists of a supporting member 4 of wire orother suitable material which extends upwardly from the upper surface ofthe block I adjacent the end thereof in which the tuft 3 is located, andthen extends at right angles and parallel to the said upper surface ofthe block. A plurality of closely spaced bristles are secured to theparallel portion of the supporting member 4 in any suitable manner, suchas by twisting strands of Wire to clamp the bristles between them, saidbristles gradually increasing in length from the free end of theparallel portion of the supporting member 4 to form a conical shapedbrushing surface adapted to clean the inside of all different sizes ofdenture clasps. The said conical denture clasp brush is approximately 16mm. in width at its widest point.

The brush described will conform to the shape of the palatal surface ofa denture plate mesiodistally, the bristles 2 being adapted to brush thesmooth surfaces of the plate and between the teeth and the tuft ofbristles 3 being adapted to enter and clean the concaved surfacesrequired for the alveolar ridge. The cleaning may be readily effected bya rotating movement. Owing to the size of the brush and the fact that itis not held by means of a handle but directly by the block, the handwhich is operating the brush is in close proximity with the hand holdingthe denture, which gives the user greater control over the brush andminimizes the danger of dropping and breaking the denture. For cleaningclasps, particularly the inside thereof in partial dentures the end ofthe conical bristles 5 of the denture clasp brush may be insertedtherein, the distance required depending on the size of the clasp, thusmaking it possible to thoroughly clean clasps of all sizes.

It will be seen from the above description that I have achieved theobject of my invention as set forth in the preamble hereof.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A handleless denture brush, comprising a substantially rectangularbrush-block, said block being comparatively narrow and of sufficientdepth to be grasped by the fingers, and having a plurality of closelyspaced bristles extending from the under surface of the block atsubstantially right angles thereto'for cleaning the palatal surface of adenture and a tuft of bristles extending in a direction forwardly anddownwardly from one end of the bristle-block to a point below the planeof the ends of the first mentioned bristles, for brushing the concavedsurfaces required for the alveolar ridge, the cleaning surface of thebristles being of a length not substantially exceeding the diameter ofthe average sized full denture, and the sides and ends of thebrush-block extending only slightly beyond the base of the bristles,whereby the palatal surface of such denture may be cleaned by holdingthe denture in one hand and applying the brush to the denture with theother hand and rotating said brush.

2. A handleless denture brush, comprising a substantially rectangularbrush-block, said block being comparatively narrow and of suflicientdepth to be grasped by the fingers, and having a plurality of closelyspaced bristles extending from the under surface of the block atsubstantially right angles thereto for cleaning the palatal surface of adenture and a tuft of bristles extending in a direction forwardly anddownwardly from one end of the bristle-block to a point below the planeof the ends of the first mentioned bristles, for brushing the concavedsurfaces required for the alveolar ridge, the cleaning surface of thebristles being of a length not substantially exceeding the diameter ofthe average sized full denture, and the sides and ends of thebrush-block extending only slightly beyond the base of the bristles,whereby the palatal surface of such denture may be cleaned by holdingthe denture in one hand and applying the brush to the denture with theother hand and rotating said brush; and a bristle supporting membermounted on the upper surface of the brushblock at the same end as thebristle tuft and extending toward the other end of the block parallel tobut spaced from the upper surface thereof, said bristle supportingmember having a plurality of closely-spaced bristles extending therefromat substantially right angles thereto for cleaning the inner surface ofdenture clasps.

ERNEST F. ARNOLD.

